TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC SUBSTANTIATION OF THE PROCESS OF SEMI-FLUIDISATION TREATMENT OF FRUIT AND BERRY PRODUCTS

The search for effective patterns for implementing the semi-fluidisation process for freezing and partial freezing of fruit and berry products under the condition of minimising energy consumption and high productivity of the process constitutes the relevance of the research. The purpose of the study is to develop energy-efficient and reliable technological solutions for the implementation of vibro-wave refrigeration processing of fruit and berry products based on the development of a vibration transport and technological fluidisation machine; determination of power and energy characteristics of the semi-fluidisation process; substantiation of rational speed modes of raw material movement in the processing zone. Based on a comparative analysis of the design and technological characteristics of wave, conveyor and vibration machines, the main trends in their development were substantiated; the main power and energy parameters of the developed oscillatory system were determined. A comparative analysis of the technological schemes of semi-fluidisation using the transport movement of products by belt and vibrating wave conveyor was carried out, which allowed substantiating the effectiveness of the use of the corresponding drive mechanisms of the studied machine. Graph-analytical analysis of the speed and energy parameters of the studied semi-fluidisation process on the basis of the obtained theoretical and experimental data allowed to verify the adequacy of the developed mathematical model and to substantiate the main parameters of the operating mode of the technological load advancement along the processing zone. The conducted research using the developed experimental model and the classical belt conveyor showed an increase in the speed of transportation of raw materials by almost 2 times with a decrease in energy consumption for the process by 1.4 times for the vibro-wave scheme. In the developed vibrating transport-technological semi-fluidisation machine, the vibration effect provides a decrease in technological resistance in the mass of products, significantly reducing the force effect on it, as a result of the generated travelling wave on the surface of the load-carrying body, the movement of the processed material along the belt and continuous mixing or renewal of product layers are provided. The practical value of the study includes the use of a combined scheme for creating a fluidised layer of products due to the oscillation of the belt and bubbling with the flow of coolant; the use of the belt wave to create the movement of products in the production area